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As a reader, how do you find a good book among all the choices out there? As a writer, how do you get your book noticed by readers? Photo by Madhava Enros (Creative Commons) A couple of days ago, Chuck Wendig posted a long expletive-rich rant about the proliferation of low-quality books—which he blames on self-publishing’s lack of gatekeepers—and how that makes it harder for everyone because the signal (quality books) is being buried in the noise (poorly written/edited/packaged books)....

MailChimp is one of the good guys of the online marketing services. Photo: SeeMidTN.com aka Brent (Creative Commons) Every now and then, I do a little bit to build my “author platform.” Today I signed up for MailChimp and configured my newsletter, to which people can now subscribe! I don’t actually know what I would say in a newsletter, but I figure when I have a book coming out or something, this will be useful....

As a writer, I am fortunate to have a best friend who happens to be a wonderful author. She reads my stuff, gives me notes, helps me see clearly my story, and listens to my whining when I’m stuck. And I do the same for her. And this helps make the solitary endeavor of writing a bit less lonely. Beyond her, however, I have had no writing colleagues with whom to share....

Social scientists working on a decades-long population study have recently concluded that every single living resident of the United States suffers from a condition known as imposter syndrome, a psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments, except for you, an actual fraud who is almost certainly on the verge of being found out by the people who only think they love and respect you any day now....

It all seems rather arbitrary to say today is a new start, tomorrow is the 2nd day, and so on. Every day is a new day, “the first day of the rest of your life,” and all that. Right? And yet here we are, all of us, looking at this new year full of hopes and intentions and goals and resolutions. The rhythms of the year, of the holidays, of the seasons lend themselves to this....